Uninhibited by the coronavirus lockdown

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

When time weighed heavily and days blurred during social distancing, I found a new hobby hitherto overlooked. I am fortunate to be living on a leafy street. My balcony overlooks an African tulip tree which nurtures a host of birds, squirrels and crawlies. This beautiful flowering tree known as ‘Neeru Kayi Mara’ in Kannada (because the flower buds contain water) delight the children everywhere as they pick up the fallen buds and squirt water on to each other. It grows upright to about 25 meters and bears dark green leaves and deep-orange flowers. A single cluster contains buds of various ages, pods and fully bloomed flowers. The orange blossoms seen above the green foliage provide vivid contrast. Each of the pods contains hundreds of seeds, and on maturing, they burst open. It’s a sight to behold when the white tissue-like papery seeds, looking delicate with transparent wings, sway in the air like a slow-moving danseuse as they float down to the ground.

A cavity in this majestic tree trunk has become home for a pair of mynas. These medium-sized birds with yellow legs and beak are gregarious and peaceful most of the time, but they don’t let any other birds, even other mynas to come near their home. They fluff their feathers often and bob their heads while calling. When I hear intently the calls seem to alternate between croaks, squawks, whistles and screeches.

A pair of barbets just amaze me with their tenacity of making a hole on another branch of the same tree. They peck at the softwood taking turns just like any woodpecker for days together to make a hole in the trunk. After almost a week their nest is ready and then the interior design starts as they carry straw, leaves into the hole. Their loud calls to each other like that of a frog croaking is distinctive. They feed on the nectar of the orange flowers of African tulips enabling pollination.

The bulbuls are daily visitors to the tree. A bunch of them whoosh down on the branches with lightning speed and then take off equally hurriedly that I strain my neck to follow their path. Their prominent black crest with brownish wings and whitish underparts are the giveaway. The noisy parakeets, koels, crows and kites are among other visitors to the tree. The ants and spiders trawling the foliage, squirrels scurrying about in their inimitable style and snacking on the fruit pods, all live symbiotically with each other in this wonderful tree. Indeed all good things in this world are wild, free and delightful if only we care to look.